Romford / Markits wheels and axles?

[DCB]

Are Romford axles and wheels still available?    If so where from.  Second hand Romfords seem to be selling on eBay for silly money.      The Markits website looks distinctly unloved and scale link while advertising don't seem to be answering my emails. Any suggestions?

Edited November 6, 2019 by DavidCBroad
Typo

[kevinlms]

2 minutes ago, DavidCBroad said:

Are Romford axles and wheels still available?    If so where from.  Second hand Romfords seem to be selling on eBay for silly money.      The Markits website looks distinctly unloved and scale link while advertising don't seem to be answering by emails. Any suggestions?

'Better' as in modern RTR models, already come with decent wheels and so don't need upgrading, to the same degree as in the past. 

 

Therefore the likes of Romford wheels sell far less and so effectively reduces the profit margin. It's sad but that's the truth of the matter. 

 

Don't know where to buy old stock of Romfords, but perhaps smaller shops that don't have a big internet presence?

[uax6]

SEFinecast and Branchlines carry stock.

 

Andy G

[MEGair]

Mark of Markits latest reply to me, which took around a month after I sent an order.  I was not in a hurry for items.

 

"Apologies for the delay…. Just very busy manufacturing….. Just Cast 72,000 NEW Driving wheels, bit time consuming….

Yours sincerely,

Mark Arscott

For MARKITS (UK) Ltd

Tel: 01923 249711"

 

So he is definitely still in business.  Yes the website needs updating. 

Mark in OZ

[kevinlms]

2 minutes ago, MEGair said:

Mark of Markits latest reply to me, which took around a month after I sent an order.  I was not in a hurry for items.

 

"Apologies for the delay…. Just very busy manufacturing….. Just Cast 72,000 NEW Driving wheels, bit time consuming….

Yours sincerely,

Mark Arscott

For MARKITS (UK) Ltd

Tel: 01923 249711"

 

So he is definitely still in business.  Yes the website needs updating. 

Mark in OZ

Good to hear!

[jonhall]

Roxey has a stock as well, most people seem to find buying indirectly rather easier than straight from Mark (who tends to concentrate his activities on the manufacture end of the business.

 

I understand the recent jump in prices was due to Mark calculating what his wheels were actually costing to manufacture, and the realisation that to remain in business, the retail price needs to be in excess of the cost to manufacture, something that wasn't entirely true about some of the earlier pricing!

 

Jon

[Barclay]

I recently ordered some EM Romford axles from Scalelink via their website and they came the next day, so don't discount them.

[johnarcher]

6 hours ago, Barclay said:

I recently ordered some EM Romford axles from Scalelink via their website and they came the next day, so don't discount them.

Yes I've just had a motor from them (Mashima 1020 still in stock) so they're still functioning.

[Steamport Southport]

7 hours ago, jonhall said:

Roxey has a stock as well, most people seem to find buying indirectly rather easier than straight from Mark (who tends to concentrate his activities on the manufacture end of the business.

 

I understand the recent jump in prices was due to Mark calculating what his wheels were actually costing to manufacture, and the realisation that to remain in business, the retail price needs to be in excess of the cost to manufacture, something that wasn't entirely true about some of the earlier pricing!

 

Jon

 

Roxey have stopped selling them. They now supply Gibson wheels with the kits.

 

I think they still have some stocks that they sell at exhibitions. But I think when they are gone that's it.

 

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/category/85/4mm-scale-wheels-by-markits-and-romford/

 

 

 

Jason

[The Johnster]

I'm in the market for wheels sometime over the next 12 months or so for a proposed chassis built to go under a Wills 1854 which I have been kindly given; this has terminal chassis issues and in any case a new one will look better and carry more detail.  Southeastern market a chassis kit for this loco and are presumably able to supply wheels, motor, and gears, but i've been caught out assuming things before and Andy G's reassurance that Southeastern are carrying stock is at the same time ringing a small alarm bell; carrying stock sounds to me as if this is a finite source not being renewed, which means I should consider getting on with the order.  But I'm a poverty stricken pensioner on a low fixed income, and the priority for now must be funds for the Baccy 94xx when it appears next May.  

[jamespetts]

I have recently taken delivery of wheels and other parts from Markits and had a prompt service. Some wheels were out of stock but I am told that they are in the process of being manufactured and should be available in a month or two.

[Steamport Southport]

It's as much the lack of catalogue that's the problem. It was meant to be up last November. It's alright saying phone but you could be ordering dozens of items as many of us do to save on postage.

 

5th November 2018.

We are still working on the updated catlogue and hope to have it published soon.

 

 

However I'm patient and many of the items are available from other sources.

 

 

 

Jason

[jamespetts]

The 2013 catalogue can be downloaded if you search for it, and most of the items in it appear to be current, even if the prices are not. The website does list new items.

[jonhall]

3 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Roxey have stopped selling them. They now supply Gibson wheels with the kits.

 

I think they still have some stocks that they sell at exhibitions. But I think when they are gone that's it.

 

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/category/85/4mm-scale-wheels-by-markits-and-romford/

 

 

 

Dave at Roxey has never supplied wheels with kits, but he can usually supply wheels for his kits, and holds a range from various suppliers, including Markits. I *suspect* the OP will need to give Dave a call, because he has exactly the same sort of trouble getting hold of Mark as everyone else does, and hence supplies are somewhat erratic, and Dave won't sell you something he hasn't got, so probably doesn't put them on the website.

 

Jon

[DCB]

10 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I'm in the market for wheels sometime over the next 12 months or so for a proposed chassis built to go under a Wills 1854 which I have been kindly given; this has terminal chassis issues and in any case a new one will look better and carry more detail.  Southeastern market a chassis kit for this loco and are presumably able to supply wheels, motor, and gears, but i've been caught out assuming things before and Andy G's reassurance that Southeastern are carrying stock is at the same time ringing a small alarm bell; carrying stock sounds to me as if this is a finite source not being renewed, which means I should consider getting on with the order.  But I'm a poverty stricken pensioner on a low fixed income, and the priority for now must be funds for the Baccy 94xx when it appears next May.  

Get on with the 1854, with all that white metal weight it will actually pull trains while if the 94XX is anything like the 8750 it will need a Kitmaster powered Box van permanently attached to move anything more than a token pick up goods.

[hayfield]

14 hours ago, jonhall said:

 

Dave at Roxey has never supplied wheels with kits, but he can usually supply wheels for his kits, and holds a range from various suppliers, including Markits. I *suspect* the OP will need to give Dave a call, because he has exactly the same sort of trouble getting hold of Mark as everyone else does, and hence supplies are somewhat erratic, and Dave won't sell you something he hasn't got, so probably doesn't put them on the website.

 

Jon

 

I help out on the C&L stand now and then and quite often Roxey Mouldings stand is next to it as Phil and Dave are friends and we help Dave out when he needs comfort breaks

 

Dave at Roxey has a large stock of Markit items, certainly did sell markit wheels and at Scaleforum Mark from Markits was doing the rounds seeing those who retail his products, Dave Ellis at Southeastern Finecast also sells Markit wheels. Both offer a super mail order service

 

Certainly a while back I heard some wheels were in short supply, due to a back log in fitting the rims to the inserts, no idea if this is still the case

[hayfield]

7 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

Get on with the 1854, with all that white metal weight it will actually pull trains while if the 94XX is anything like the 8750 it will need a Kitmaster powered Box van permanently attached to move anything more than a token pick up goods.

 

David

 

Both the 1854's have their own bespoke etched chassis, unlike the old cast chassis they do perform excellently and can be built either as a rigid or compensated chassis, their ability to run totally depends on the combination of motor and gearbox (I would not use a motor mount )

 

The 94xx still uses the SEF FC200 (Triang / Hornby Jinty chassis replacement) chassis, but this has full brake gear and is designed as an easy fit into the body. the performance will depend on motor gearbox selection. High Level Kits do a bespoke 94xx chassis, but you will need to alter the body to fit the chassis, is a more advanced kit and will need a slightly higher skill level in building it

 

In my opinion a well built etched chassis with an appropriate motor & gearbox will out perform any RTR model, just think of the extra weight going on to the wheels which will give added traction

[hayfield]

18 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I'm in the market for wheels sometime over the next 12 months or so for a proposed chassis built to go under a Wills 1854 which I have been kindly given;

 

 But I'm a poverty stricken pensioner on a low fixed income,

 

The cost of most model railway items has soared over the past 15 years, also as mentioned easy to find second hand but un-used items (Markit wheels, Hashima motors) also fetch premiums. However there are useful sources of inexpensive items. I have in the past bought cheap unbuilt complete loco kits of a type I dont want, relieved them of their wheels and motors and re-sold the kits for much the same price. Making the cost of the motor and wheels a fraction of the new price, look for badly made kits that no one wants, usually nothing wrong with the wheels and motors.

 

At a loco show I bought an old unmade Stephen Poole kit for £15. The body is fine, had new style Romford wheels and a Mashima motor, the chassis will be thrown away and a new etched one bought. Even if the chassis cost £35 for £50 I have a kit which would now cost £130-£150 to buy at new prices.

 

A modern saying is to think out of the box

[John Tomlinson]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

The cost of most model railway items has soared over the past 15 years, also as mentioned easy to find second hand but un-used items (Markit wheels, Hashima motors) also fetch premiums. However there are useful sources of inexpensive items. I have in the past bought cheap unbuilt complete loco kits of a type I dont want, relieved them of their wheels and motors and re-sold the kits for much the same price. Making the cost of the motor and wheels a fraction of the new price, look for badly made kits that no one wants, usually nothing wrong with the wheels and motors.

 

At a loco show I bought an old unmade Stephen Poole kit for £15. The body is fine, had new style Romford wheels and a Mashima motor, the chassis will be thrown away and a new etched one bought. Even if the chassis cost £35 for £50 I have a kit which would now cost £130-£150 to buy at new prices.

 

A modern saying is to think out of the box

I'd add that one often sees kits that have been poorly made or finished going for little more than the price of the wheels.

 

White metal kits are quite easy to dismantle and re-make, and you can therefore get a real bargain if the loco is one you want, alternatively if its the wheels only try selling the dismantled and cleaned up kit onwards to recoup your outlay.

 

John.

[RedgateModels]

I picked up an old Jinty a few years back, nice handbuilt gearbox with DS10 style motor and Romford gears plus full set of Romford/Markits wheels for about £12.50. The gearbox is now powering my O gauge Pug (with a bigger motor!) and the wheels are in stock waiting for use.

[The Johnster]

Some good points in the last few posts.  The 1854 is a generous donation from a denizen of this site, and has been well made but the chassis is the original Wills kit block and a wheel is off with stripped thread, plus motor (Anchorage) is out of action.  I've decided that she deserves a better chassis and the Southeastern is the obvious choice.  I have built simple kit chassis before, admittedly a long time ago, but reckon this will be within my comfort zone.  She is to be finished as 1750 as allocated to Tondu in early BR days, in late GW livery, and if anyone has any info pertaining to this loco (half cab, full cab?) I'd be interested.

 

So far as haulage goes, yes, any whitemetal bodied kit is going to pull 2 RTRs backwards (to paraphrase Churchward) and a kit chassis is probably going to outperform them as well.  But it's not a big issue on my small BLT, where even the feeble Bachmanns can pull everything asked of them.  I suspect Mr Broad is referring to the upcoming Baccy 94xx and their 57xx rather than the previous Wills kit loco that were originally intended to run on proprietary chassis.  I'm sure the Wills/Southeastern bodyline kits for which the SEF chassis kits are designed run and pull very well.

 

Cost is an everpresent problem, and RTR is getting much more expensive.  I've no axe to grind about this; Chinese people work hard and deserve a good standard of living as much as we do, and the days when European and US companies exploit their cheap labour are over.  I still think RTR to current standards is very good value for money, and competitive with kits on a pricing basis when you consider the  all-up cost of a finished running kit; a recently built Comet coach came in at over £60.  Kits need to be considered not just on the basis of cost alone; there is also the satisfaction of building them.  if you factor that as a cost, then you need to charge yourself labour and overall costs become outlandish!

 

I build kits to go with my primarily RTR stock because the item is not available RTR, and the 1854 comes into this category.  It's cost so far = zero,  and it is not an item I would have bothered with had it not been kindly offered to me.  It is nowhere near as useful on a South Wales late 40s/early 50s layout as another 57xx or 56xx would be, but I'm awash with those, but will be fun to renovate and a lovely thing to have.  I have a dozen locos in service, all RTR and all in current production or (Hornby 2721) the most recent version.  Only one of these was bought brand new, a Hornby 42xx, and that was on offer at a reduced price.  Everything else is secondhand from my local shop or 'Bay and my Limbach 94xx has a donated body, again from a kind RMweb contributor.

 

Famous last words probably, but the Baccy 94xx (which will result in the Limbach being retired and it's Baccy chassis going under another 57xx) and this 1854 should be my last loco purchases, a stud of 14 locos which are more than enough to work the timetable with a spare for each duty.  Even I think that's overkill!  There still purchases pricey enough to worry a pensioner, but the locos were the big spend items and I'm lucky that, by and large, I got in while they were still less than £100 a pop.  There's a Dapol working bracket signal when it's available and I'd like to replace the track on the scenic part of the layout with code 75 bullhead, bridges to be crossed or not when and if I come to them.

 

[t-b-g]

I have just phoned and ordered a set of driving wheels direct from Markits. They have clearly been very busy producing new and existing items. They have been a bit reluctant to publish a new catalogue until they have decent stock levels of what is going to appear in it. I can just imagine the reaction if people were ordering things from the catalogue only to be told that they were not available.

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

I'd add that one often sees kits that have been poorly made or finished going for little more than the price of the wheels.

 

White metal kits are quite easy to dismantle and re-make, and you can therefore get a real bargain if the loco is one you want, alternatively if its the wheels only try selling the dismantled and cleaned up kit onwards to recoup your outlay.

 

John.

 

 

If you look hard these items come up quite regularly, today fir £14 I have certainly bought A Wills SR M7 box, chassis and modern Romford wheels with a whitemetal chassis thrown in, but clearly in the photos is a loco body. Given that a box now is £4.50 and a set of drivers £28 with axles, a safe gamble. I am hoping the body is included, in fact disappointed if its not. Certainly no mention that the loco in the photo's is not included

 

A few weeks ago I bought a broken Wills Metro tank, cost me £38 but had modern Romford wheels, a Mashima 1220 motor and modern gearset, worst case scenario £20 in cast parts to repair the body. Plus the satisfaction in doing a bit of modelmaking at a fraction of the cost of new items 

[hayfield]

3 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

I have just phoned and ordered a set of driving wheels direct from Markits. They have clearly been very busy producing new and existing items. They have been a bit reluctant to publish a new catalogue until they have decent stock levels of what is going to appear in it. I can just imagine the reaction if people were ordering things from the catalogue only to be told that they were not available.

 

 

Mark is a one man band, like many other traders either in retirement or near retirement age. Most of the work is done in house, though I understand casting and wheel assembly is outsourced. Good to know all is OK 

[Steamport Southport]

21 hours ago, jonhall said:

 

Dave at Roxey has never supplied wheels with kits, but he can usually supply wheels for his kits, and holds a range from various suppliers, including Markits. I *suspect* the OP will need to give Dave a call, because he has exactly the same sort of trouble getting hold of Mark as everyone else does, and hence supplies are somewhat erratic, and Dave won't sell you something he hasn't got, so probably doesn't put them on the website.

 

Jon

 

They do supply wheels with kits. If you select them. They used to be Romford and are now Gibson.

 

Wheelsets, motor and gearboxes are available (See options)

 

So saying he doesn't supply wheels with kits is blatantly wrong as I've got a few over the years.

 

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/292/4l3-mswjr-4-4-0-gwr-rebuild/

 

 

 

Jason